Sack prison director, NGO Repubblika says

NGO Repubblika has called for the removal of Prisons Director Col. Alexander Dalli over a number of unexplained deaths at the Corradino Correctional Facility.

This after  Ihtisham Ihtisham, a 25 year-old inmate, was found dead in his cell by prison guards two days ago.

The inmate was the 11th death in prison under Dalli’s command, said Repubblika, adding that the death rate was the highest in living memory.
Although a magisterial inquiry is triggered every time a death is registered in prison, the conclusions of the inquiries are never made public. “The deaths occur in the secrecy of prison and the investigations into these deaths are carried out in the institutionalised secrecy of the magistrature,” said the NGO.

Repubblika called for Dalli’s immediate removal and his temporary replacement by a Parliamentary Committee which would hear the prisons administrators, as well as experts in related fields to ensure the safeguarding of the life and fundamental rights of the prisoners.

It also recommended that an independent public inquiry be appointed to investigate the prisoners’ conditions and to determine whether the administration bore any responsibility for the “institutional failure.”

Repubblika expressed its "sincere sorrow" for Itisham’s death and said it hoped that the whole truth about his death and those of other inmates would become known.